Catch Fish with
Mike Ladle

Information Page

For anyone unfamiliar with the site always check the FRESHWATER, SALTWATER and TACK-TICS pages. The Saltwater page now extends back as a record of over four years of (mostly) sea fishing and may be a useful guide as to when to fish. The Freshwater stuff is also up to date now. I keep adding to both. These pages are effectively my diary and the latest will usually be about fishing in the previous day or two. The Tactics pages which are chiefly 'how I do it' plus a bit of science are also updated regularly and (I think) worth a read (the earlier ones are mostly tackle and 'how to do it' stuff so if you are new to fly fishing or spinning these are the ones for you).

11 March 2009.

Good fun.

Every time I have wanted to go pike fishing lately it seems to have rained heavily. My local rivers rise and colour up pretty quickly - depending which one it is somewhere between one and three days to the peak. Of course they fall and clear quickly as well so it's not all bad. Nevertheless, it is looking as though my chances of a pike or two before the end of the season are a bit slim. The salmon season on the Frome and Piddle started on the first of March so this reduces even further the opportunities for a spot of piking.

I can console myself, to some extent, with the fact that coarse fishing (for dace and roach) is generally pretty good even in coloured water. On my most recent sortie to the river the water was just beginning to fine down so as I opened the maggot box I was quite optimistic. The first trot down produced a small roach, the next one a dace of similar size then it was a succession of dace, each one bigger than the last. Most of the fish seemed to be rough skinned males, obviously in prime spawning condition, with just the odd, fat, slippery female. I really enjoyed the fishing.

Just to finish off I tried half-an-hour's pike fishing. The first spot produced nothing at all and the next one was also looking bleak until the bait drifted right into the bankside reeds. Suddenly there was a big swirl and the cork disappeared. Clearly the pike had been right in amongst the marginal vegetation and was not prepared to move far for its meal. I find that this is often the case in high water conditions.

Roach.

Closer.

Dace

My pike.

Pike's head.